How the Mighty Have Fallen

[Steel Tiger]

As of the 12th of December the International Olympic Committee stripped Marion Jones of all the titles she won at the Sydney and Athens Olympics. She was also retroactively disqualified from the 2004 long jump event in which she finished fifth.

On the 24th of November she was found guilty of using prohibited substances after her rather astounding public admissions in October. She has now handed back all five medals she won and lost the titles associated with them. The US Olympic Committee has also required her to pay back over a million dollars she was given for training and living purposes.

Her situation just seems to get worse and worse. Even though she received multi-million dollar endorsement contracts by 2007 she was broke. She in 2006 she was implicated in a cheque-counterfeiting scheme.

She in scheduled to be sentenced in January 2008 for making false statements associated with the Federal government's investigation into the BALCO company.

In seven years she has gone from being the darling of the athletics world to a convicted criminal all because of banned drug use.

 

[CoryKS]

Can she hit a baseball?

 

[grydth]

She's actually heading for a probable jail term because she lied during a federal investigation - and that can be worse than the original crime in consequences...... as more than one former US president can tell you.

This and the Vick case shows what a batch of parasites hang around athletes.

My reaction on seeing a collection of these stories: Isn't there one wise person around (father, lawyer, mentor, agent, manager) who would step up and tell them they are crazy to get involved in this silly stuff? Isn't there anyone who'd tell them they have the world, and to drive the parasites out of the temple?

I always tell our children that nothing will take you down faster in life than bad and evil "friends"...... just look at the fallen sports idol stories and see!

 

[CuongNhuka]

Can she hit a baseball?

HeHeHe...

 

[Steel Tiger]

My reaction on seeing a collection of these stories: Isn't there one wise person around (father, lawyer, mentor, agent, manager) who would step up and tell them they are crazy to get involved in this silly stuff? Isn't there anyone who'd tell them they have the world, and to drive the parasites out of the temple?

I always tell our children that nothing will take you down faster in life than bad and evil "friends"...... just look at the fallen sports idol stories and see!

The problem I am constantly seeing with exceptional athletes is that they are constantly being told that they're special and can do anything. Add in a **** load of cash and some sycophants and you eventually end up with someone who thinks they can do anything and get away with it.

There was a time when young sporting proteges had responsible mentors who kept them grounded (to an extent). Is there no place for people like that is modern professional sport?

 

[Kacey]

There was a time when young sporting proteges had responsible mentors who kept them grounded (to an extent). Is there no place for people like that is modern professional sport?

Apparently not.

 

[Blindside]

There was a time when young sporting proteges had responsible mentors who kept them grounded (to an extent). Is there no place for people like that is modern professional sport?

What is the saying? "If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying." Competitors are always looking for an edge, and there really isn't any question that modern pharmaceuticals provide a hell of an edge. So if you are in their shoes, and someone tells you that winning the Olympics is worth $5 million in endorsement deals, you aren't going to give taking that pill just a bit of a thought? You aren't being asked to shoot anyone, the only one you are hurting is you. There are tremendous psychological pressures, not just financial to dope, it isn't just a lack of "wise old mentors." Cheating has existed in every sport from day one, this is just another form of cheating.

Lamont

 

[stone_dragone]

[shakes head]

 

[grydth]

What is the saying? "If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying." Competitors are always looking for an edge, and there really isn't any question that modern pharmaceuticals provide a hell of an edge. So if you are in their shoes, and someone tells you that winning the Olympics is worth $5 million in endorsement deals, you aren't going to give taking that pill just a bit of a thought? You aren't being asked to shoot anyone, the only one you are hurting is you. There are tremendous psychological pressures, not just financial to dope, it isn't just a lack of "wise old mentors." Cheating has existed in every sport from day one, this is just another form of cheating.

Lamont

I cannot dispute a single line of what you have written. These pressures and temptations are timeless. But what we're getting at is - where are the good influences that used to more than balance the scale? Sure, there are boat loads of thieves and remoras to draw the athlete to do the illegal thing...... but where'd all the good guys go, the ones who'd fill a young person in to the consequences? Once, the word of a strong and upstanding father, powerful lawyer, dominant agent, protective mother, older brother, wise coach....... any one would have sufficed to scatter these ghouls.

Perhaps it is asking too much to ask that elders be respected in the USA when so many of them act so stupidly themselves and pretend they are still 21.

Most anyone would give more than a bit of thought to fame and five million.... they need to give some thought to the trip wire attached to it.

 

[Grenadier]

Sad to see this, but she deserves to have the book thrown at her. She cheated and tried to obstruct justice.

The "win at all costs" attitude has been with the athletic world for a long time now. This was especially prevalent during the Cold War era, where the Soviet and East German athletes were rampantly using steroids to bulk up their athletes to superhuman levels. Of course, they denied ever having touched steroids, until the dissolution of the above two nations occurred after the Cold War was over.

 

[Blindside]

I Sure, there are boat loads of thieves and remoras to draw the athlete to do the illegal thing...... but where'd all the good guys go, the ones who'd fill a young person in to the consequences? Once, the word of a strong and upstanding father, powerful lawyer, dominant agent, protective mother, older brother, wise coach....... any one would have sufficed to scatter these ghouls.

Why do you think they don't exist? Presumably, the a guiding hand would lend itself to not making headlines that are popular in the media. Winning steroid free isn't a story, writing about Johnny who stays home on Saturday night with his mom really doesn't compare to showering dollar bills on strippers and hanging out with groups that wind up shooting up clubs. What percentage of all the athletes in amateur and pro sports really are the shmucks that make the headlines?

I doubt drug use is higher with celebrities or pro athletes, I just think that when they get caught, we hear about it.

Lamont

PS: Remoras are usually commensalists or mutalists, they aren't harmful to the host and may benefit it.

 

[Kacey]

The level of competition - and the reward for success - invites people to cheat. This is a problem with both the individuals and the system. Until such time as the priorities of this country shift, and people start placing greater value (ethically and monetarily) on other activities than physical competition, the problem will continue to perpetuate itself.

 

[grydth]

Why do you think they don't exist? Presumably, the a guiding hand would lend itself to not making headlines that are popular in the media. Winning steroid free isn't a story, writing about Johnny who stays home on Saturday night with his mom really doesn't compare to showering dollar bills on strippers and hanging out with groups that wind up shooting up clubs. What percentage of all the athletes in amateur and pro sports really are the shmucks that make the headlines?

I doubt drug use is higher with celebrities or pro athletes, I just think that when they get caught, we hear about it.

Lamont

PS: Remoras are usually commensalists or mutalists, they aren't harmful to the host and may benefit it.

My best guess as to why the positive influences don't exist in as great numbers: too many elders are off making fools of themselves. What does an old fool have to teach?

I do think athletes and celebs have more opportunities and more pressures to cross the line than we average folks. Many of the high performance cars they crash in are way out of my reach, as are the substances they abuse. Maybe I'm biased, but I think celebs draw masses of parasites who'd have no interest in the rest of us... and that's no loss. We are not hounded by the media when we shop for household goods, or go for an evening out..... and never being famous, we have no need to act out to keep getting the media attention.

Drug use is all over the place, I have seen that first hand.... So is any of the misconduct. I just feel as Joe or Jane Average, we have fewer and lesser opportunities, and we are more likely to have somebody of value - a true friend or mentor - to stand by us.

No, I am not going to debate fish with somebody I now see is a "wildlife biologist"!

 

[arnisador]

Sad to see this, but she deserves to have the book thrown at her. She cheated and tried to obstruct justice.

True. But her relay teammates are likely to lose their medals too. I imagine that's necessary, but they're the ones I feel badly for in this case.

 

[crushing]

True. But her relay teammates are likely to lose their medals too. I imagine that's necessary, but they're the ones I feel badly for in this case.

Ah, yes. She was a medal holder in some relay events. While I haven't heard of her teammates losing theirs yet, it does seem like they would. How unforunate for them.

 

[Ping898]

That's too bad, she was someone I admired and respected....

 

[Steel Tiger]

True. But her relay teammates are likely to lose their medals too. I imagine that's necessary, but they're the ones I feel badly for in this case.

Ah, yes. She was a medal holder in some relay events. While I haven't heard of her teammates losing theirs yet, it does seem like they would. How unforunate for them.

If she has been disqualified from the events then her whole team will have been disqualified as well. I know she was disqualified from the long jump at Athens. The reports have only said she was stripped of titles, there was no mention of whether they disqualified her or not.

But these are the repercussions that are never considered, the effects on team mates. Not only can they lose their prize as well, but they are likely to be viewed with suspicion even though they have done nothing wrong.